Glenmary commission makes statement on Protestant unity effort

CINCINNATI, Ohio — The Glenmary Commission on Ecumenism released a statement Tuesday, Nov. 22 offering support for the "intent and effort" of the Reforming Catholic Confession.

The Reforming Catholic Confession is a Protestant statement of faith designed to foster unity among Christian communities that trace their lineage to the Reformation.

The Glenmary Commission on Ecumenism is an inter-denominational group created in 2012 by Glemary Home Missioners to enhance understanding, reduce alienation and foster reconciliation between Catholics and Evangelicals in the southeastern United States.

The full statement follows below.

Glenmary Commission on Ecumenism statement on the Reforming Catholic Confession

We are a body comprised of Christians of different denominational backgrounds and sponsored by the Glenmary Home Missioners — a Roman Catholic missionary society serving the United States.

We are excited to watch the development of the Reforming Catholic Confession. While we may lack full agreement with the confession as it stands now, we applaud that it has global reach and that it brings together Protestants from different races, cultures, nationalities and, perhaps most importantly, theological and denominational traditions.

Through our experience, we have noticed that many Christians have grown comfortable with divisions. We commend the Reforming Catholic Confession for first acknowledging that the sin of division is contrary to the will of Christ (John 17:21), the instruction of the early Church (1 Cor. 1:10) and the impulse of the reformers, and second, for taking steps to do something about it. They remind us that we, too, are all called to unity and to work for unity.

We support the value in affirming a common core of beliefs while at the same time acknowledging that not all differences need break relationship or be church-dividing.

We affirm that this is a work in progress and we hear the words "to be continued." We look forward to that continuation.

We are encouraged by an interview with Dr. Kevin J. Vanhoozer (one of the primary drafters of the document) that while the focus of this document is bringing together the heirs of the Protestant Reformation, any full discussion of the unity of the Body of Christ must ultimately include Catholics and Orthodox. It is our hope that the Reforming Catholic Confession can be an impetus for such a movement and we welcome that discussion.